Loan amendment alert: Wellpet offers 10bp CSA
Wellpet has issued a loan amendment request with a view to including a 10 basis points credit spread adjustment (CSA), market sources say. Although this is an improvement on recent amendments it still falls short, according to CLO investors.

Beneath the triple C: Life could be better, but it’s just a letter, under the CCC
Many market participants were eagerly looking forward to a break in December after a gruelling year, but the rating agencies were in no mood to oblige. 

Senior Investcorp official lands at wealth manager
A well-known name in the CLO industry has landed at a wealth management firm 

ICG hires former BlueMountain lev loan and HY senior analyst
Intermediate Capital Group has hired a senior analyst focusing on liquid credit

CVC plots further quasi-CLOs after landmark €400 million deal
CVC Credit closed a CLO-like’ vehicle backed by senior secured loans in December. Officials at the firm say they are in early stage discussions to launch similar vehicles after interest from equity investors"  

Loan managers must act to prevent CSA leakage, say CLO investors
CLO investors have made clear that managers need to stay on top of US loan amendments that are switching benchmark from Libor to Sofr

Are we ready for another crisis?
Credit managers must brace themselves for stress in 2023, as rates rise and the number of poor performing assets increases. But most CLOs look well-placed and can rely on plump OC cushions 

Fund performance: Light at the end of the tunnel for credit funds after difficult year
Following a tough September, credit funds bounced back in October as 59% of funds made positive returns.

Credit hedge fund returns (December 2023)
Credit hedge fund returns

Credit funds at a glance (December 2023)
A round up of fundraising and people moves in credit

LP round up: 27 managers find the top corner with investor wins
Credit fund managers like to take it one fund at a time and give it 110% for their 90-minute investor fund pitches - and it's working as $3.8 billion was allocated during November and early December. The gaffer would be proud. 

Manager looks to cut HY exposures in CLO-heavy credit interval fund
A credit fund manager has provided a performance update on is multi-strategy closed-end credit fund through regulatory filings, revealing it has beat its benchmark from 1 April to 30 September despite losing 13.66%

Structured credit pair among 61 to earn promotion at Carlyle
Carlyle has promoted two members of its US CLO team among 61 new partners and managing directors 

Sculptor and Och reconcile as sale process kicks off
Sculptor Capital Management is looking for a buyer after forming a special committee and building bridges with its founder Daniel Och

European CLO managers trade loans to avoid (par) burn
Between March and July, European CLO managers traded €21 billion of assets within CLOs that were still in their reinvestment period as opportunities arose amid a weaker macro environment and Russia’s war with Ukraine

Plenty more US CLOs in the CCC as buckets pass 5%, finds S&P
US CLO triple C baskets have nudged to 5.02% in November from 4.4% the prior month

Fitch raises European default rate assumptions with loans in tougher spot than bonds
Analysts at Fitch Ratings have raised their base-case leveraged loan default rate for end-2023 in Europe to 4.5% from 3.5%, and their severe-case rate to 6%

CLO investors set to lose out as CSA-less amendment passes
Covanta’s US loan amendment, which will result in a benchmark switch to Sofr without a credit spread adjustment, has passed. This will be a blow to CLO managers and, ultimately, CLO investors

Credit Suisse to streamline European CLO manager client list
Credit Suisse is unlikely to be among the heavyweights in European CLO origination with market sources indicating that the bank is reducing its CLO manager client list

CLO managers to jump into action as Covanta loan proposal omits spread adjustment
Covanta Holdings is the latest example of a US loan issuer looking to switch benchmark from Libor to Sofr, but without an accompanying credit spread adjustment

Beneath the triple C: Stormy October hits CLOs with rising tide of downgrades
After a slight respite in the pace of downgrades over the summer for CLOs, October brought renewed momentum as macro-economic pressures - primarily high interest rate burdens for corporate borrowers and supply side inflation - became the recurring rationale

The Last Tranche with Bain's Wright: Manager consolidation will be likely as benefits of scale come to bear

In this episode of The Last Tranche, Bain Capital Credit managing director John Wright discusses the manager landscape in the CLO market

"CLOs could withstand another 13.4% of downgrades to triple C if the price drops to 50"
CLOs are well positioned, even if there are mass downgrades to triple C  

Cairn begins "new chapter" as it rebrands to Polus
Cairn Capital has been renamed Polus Capital Management, which brings it together with Bybrook Capital, the credit asset manager it acquired in 2021.  

Fund performance: Wake us up when September ends
After a resurgent August, credit markets hit a rough patch in September, with every Creditflux index posting negative returns, and only 12.9% of funds in our listings showing a positive return.